BADOLBILZ

In fairness........they kinda' had to take what they had and like it at MLB. Drafting another off-ball LB in round 1 after Edmunds never played up to the great expectations would have been asinine. And they'd just used a starting grade pick on the position(a 1 starter position) in the last draft. They apparently wanted Lavonte David and the price was right but he didn't want to leave Tampa. Beane has really got this team in a jam cap-wise. I think if a Taylor Rapp level of player at MLB had been willing to come in to play for $1.7M then it would likely be that players job to lose.

Yeah @eball made a fool of himself last offseason mocking any suggestion that the Bills needed to add more receiving help........then after the struggles the Bills had at receiver outside of Diggs he hid all offseason from his due criticism. Now, of course, he wants to re-frame his woefully bad takes and boorish behavior towards @ScottLaw as justified by his lack of objectivity. For shame eball. For shame......

Yeah we are in a new era. The idea about WR2 being another boundary option who stretches the field WAS the way it used to be........but not any longer if you reasonably expect to reach a SB. Back when individual RB's were integral components of SB winning offense your WR2 could just run a few routes and have significant flaws. Like the 1990's SB teams. That's the Reed/(aging)Lofton or Michael Irvin/Alvin Harper dynamic. Gabe Davis would have been a fine complementary WR2 back in the day. Gabe is very Alvin Harper-esque. But now teams don't need that stud RB1........in fact a stud RB is almost a detriment in post season football because it makes the OC feel like they gotta' give that guy touches even when they aren't producing. See the Saints blowing #1 seeds trying to feed Kamara in the playoffs. The statistical evidence is overwhelming that you don't want one if you are making a SB run. The emphasis for that 3rd "triplet" like the Kelly/Thomas/Reed combination is now a player at the LOS in the passing game........so not a RB. Supply of WR1 talent has increased notably in the past 5 years as elite young athletes began moving to WR and CB in the past 10 years(post 2010 offensive rules changes). Now teams CAN have two boundary WR1's or a combination of an elite TE and studs at any of the WR positions that yield two legit #1 options in the passing game. Cooper Kupp had his record setting year mostly from the slot. I do think they need Kincaid to become their WR2 option ASAP. And that's a big ask, so I have my reservations that he can do that in year 1 just like most people do. And just like last year, stories are coming out about how Gabe is NOW ready to step up his game to WR1 level. But he's really been the same guy since he came into the league and I don't think hard work is necessarily going to change that. So I'll believe it when I see it. 3 seasons of foot problems = foot problems is part of his identity, IMO. He can improve his terrible catch mechanics but then we still don't know if his hands will be consistent. Just too many moving parts.....or parts that don't move well enough......to expect him to become a WR1 level target.

Well you were clearly dead wrong(and a d!ck about it) that Davis was never the Bills second option. So own it. I guess you missed 2022.........which started with Gabriel Davis having a huge playoff game and the Bills organization deciding that he was then ready to become their WR2 without splitting snaps with an Emmanuel Sanders or John Brown like in 2020-2021. I mean, you can't be clueless enough to think that they expected Lil' Dummy McKenzie or $2M flyer signing Jamison Crowder to be their second option, right? They also had a plan to run a lot more 12 personnel coming into camp in 2022........which face planted even harder than the Dummy/Crowder combo when OJ Howard proved to be washed. They thought they were going to get 100-130 targets out of Gabe and weren't going to need a high volume slot receiver. And sure the slot receiver had been their second most targeted position in 2021 but it wasn't by a huge 40%-50% disparity like from Davis to Knox/McKenzie in 2022. Davis and Emmanuel Sanders mostly split 133 targets in 2021(with some of those targets being Sanders in the slot). Beasley as the primary slot totaled 112 targets.

Doesn't matter if it's a great TE or slot receiver or a great X or Y receiver. They can all be a WR1(until a better designation is created). The point stands......it's been quite a while since anyone has even reached a SB without having 2 WR1 level receiving threats. And you can choose not believe that Juju is a WR1 option but his bulk and catch% numbers say he was firmly within the top 32 receiving threats in the NFL last year. Maybe even top 75% of first receiving options, statistically. Now did the Chiefs get lucky that he stayed so healthy? Sure. But we aren't talking about a creation of Patrick Mahomes, he was a 25 year old guy who has had a 110 catch 1400 yard season in his history.

"(Davis) is not the second option and he never will be"?? That's one of the most ignorant takes I've seen in a long time. Davis was the second option in the Bills passing game just this last season........and it wasn't even a close contest. Davis had almost 50% more targets(93) than the next two pass catchers(Knox and McKenzie with 65 each). Also wrt to the "WR" designation........you'd have a point if TE's were graded on a curve as passing game targets........but they aren't. "Passing game weapons"(PGW) isn't yet a distinction like some others. That's like insisting Von Miller wasn't a DE prior to the term "edge" being used to lump in all DE/OLB whose primary role is to rush the passer. It's semantics. Travis Kelce is absolutely a WR1 level weapon. He was 3rd in the league in receptions and 8th in receiving yards last season. He puts up big numbers every year and is a top priority for defense's to stop.

So if Gabe isn't an ideal #2 you'd be willing to field a considerably worse receiving corps this season? When you are a SB contender you don't trade a season for a second round picks. And yes..........the rest of our WR corps are really a bunch of JAGs. Shakir, Sharty and Sherfield have combined for 1798 career receiving yards in a combined 10 NFL seasons. 180 yards per season is a JAG number. Shorter wasn't even exceptional in college. In 5 years he averaged 310 yards per season and never topped 600.

You might think that. But your opinion is not supported in recent history. Chiefs (Juju...25th in NFL in receiving yards and very high catch rate....and Kelce) vs Eagles (AJ Brown and Devonta Smith) Rams (Kupp and Beckham) vs Bengals (Chase and Higgins) Bucs (Evans and Godwin) vs Chiefs (Hill and Kelce) Chiefs(Hill and Kelce) vs Niners (Kittle and Samuel) Patriots (Edelman and Gronk) vs (Woods and Cooks) Eagles (exception) vs Patriots (Gronk and Cooks) Basically you gotta' go back 6 seasons to find one team that was the exception to having two WR1 talents and still reaching the Super Bowl. It's become a necessity. So the plan for the Bills has to be to develop that other guy(Kincaid hopefully) or be that increasingly rare exception. Because there isn't a world where Gabe Davis is a comp to any of those players listed. Only an illogical homer would imply that he is. And to your alternative scenario.......some of those teams ALSO had an abundance of other good receivers as well......like the 2018 Patriots who first option kinda' studs but had 5 players over 700 yards receiving.

Gabe Davis isn't holding the team back on offense.........not having a better #2 option is. Gabe as the 3rd or 4th option in the passing game would be excellent.

He couldn't get open in college. He doesn't need a better QB he needs to play in a league where QB's just chuck and duck the ball into traffic to avoid hits. That would be the XFL or USFL.

10 more catches on 98 targets is a lot bigger ask for him than you think. He was credited with 9 drops........a massive number.......which should put that in perspective. He's not going to become DeAndre Hopkins dropping 1% of his passes over night. And as @GunnerBill said, he's not same kind of the player those guys you mentioned are. Much more diverse talents. The more realistic option to get more efficiency from Gabe was/is to get those targets down by 50% to around 65 and just accept him for what he is.........a HR threat and guy who can over-match nickel and dime CB's down the field........and then maybe get him extended at a number that reflects that like the Chiefs did with MVS. If you continue giving him 6-7 of your targets a game then it makes sense for teams to keep putting a CB1 on him and doubling Diggs. That's no bueno. It could also double-backfire on you by giving him bigger bulk stats than he should have.......which can be used against you in extension negotiations. Give those extra targets to Kincaid(hopefully) and get Knox more involved. That would help get Gabe more favorable matches and get him open more often.

That's an over-simplification........the Bills WR3 to WR13 consists of two of their own 5th rounders who've yet to prove/impress in the league and a bunch of UDFA's and/or guys released by multiple teams who've AT BEST only had brief stretches of success as WR's in the NFL. No top 100 picks who haven't washed out like Harry or Isabella have. Not even one veteran whose had a history of success in reserve. They are one of the lower pedigree teams in the league in terms of depth behind WR1 and WR2. The Kincaid 12 personnel thing REALLY has to work out. More riding on that than you'd like to see for a rookie.

If Shorter doesn't look playable then I even could see them going with 5 WR plus Kincaid. And the 5th WR might even be someone they trade for at the end of camp who can return kicks and punts if Shakir doesn't prove that he's not a taint' who drops too many passes. The fact that they are trying out these scrubs, the quality of which they wouldn't have looked twice at since 2018, should be the "sign" for the people who think the Bills have quality depth at WR. Beane has cut it awful close.

Yeah the problem with @Buffalo_Stampede quote is that Gabe Davis is clearly not the "perfect" WR2. He's certainly not the ideal and at this point everyone should know that. I can only assume he was just careless with his words because he takes offense to the deserved criticism. There is nothing "perfect" about being second in the league in total drops and 185th in catch % when you are getting close to 100 targets. Too much inefficiency. That inconsistency from Davis.........combined with that of lesser ball droppers like McKenzie/Shakir/Knox playing one slot ahead of where they should in the pecking order........helped allow teams to roll extra attention to Diggs in the second half of last season, which made the offense look chaotic at times. Far from ideal. The Bills haven't really had a top 10 WR2 since early in the 2020 season before John Brown got hurt. The Bills passing game looked considerably different then. Far too much off-script offense in the mix now. Even just the threat of a screen to the otherwise-bomb-threat Smoke(which produced a handful of huge, game changing plays) had an impact that the offense has lacked ever since. An ideal WR2 is either great at one thing or able to beat you in numerous ways and be both high production and efficient. Like a WR1. This is the way the league is now and there has been an influx of WR talent in the last 5 years like we've never seen before so it's not far fetched to have 2 WR1's.

No the perfect WR2 for a SB contender IS a guy capable of being a WR1 on some teams. The standard is high for SB contenders because the quality of a teams second WR option has been huge with regard to reaching and/or winning the SB the last 6 years. That's a significant trend. Gabe is definitely not that kinda guy. He's even a long way from JuJu Smith Schuster......who was a 70% catch rate and top 25 yardage WR last season. Gabe is a very good WR3 for a SB contender with a QB with elite arm talent. He and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are practically the same guy. Horrible 50% catch rates......very high ypr......but limited route tree. Really need a QB with elite arm strength (to find him on spots of the field where most QB's can't reach) to basically make the field bigger for them so they can get open.

I never cease to be amazed by the undue appreciation that some fans just bestow upon the new crop of JAG's and camp fodder. Gabe isn't an ideal WR2 for a contender but he's a starter in the NFL.........those guys range from WR4(Sharty in the rare event when healthy) all the way to unplayable.

Corey Coleman was different because Beane traded for him in camp and then cut him 2 weeks later and ate $3M dead cap after he never played an actual down for the Bills. Coleman set the "new" USFL receiving yardage record this spring.........if Isabella don't work out........ https://heavy.com/sports/buffalo-bills/bills-receiver-corey-coleman-all-usfl-team/

It's BALE inspector

Floor is an Andy Isabella type.

The question is what did he do with the receipts from last year?

Must be Sharty pulled a hammy already.

Kromer isn't scheme specific. He has had high level success with both power/ pin-and-pull and inside zone schemes(where his 2015-2016 Bills lead the NFL in rushing both years) AND the en vogue west coast style outside zone(reached SB with McVay Rams). McDermott would clearly like to be an outside zone blocking team but that plan has failed every year. Dennison, Daboll, Dorsey.........they haven't been able to be good at outside zone. They usually end up going away from that as the season progresses. Part of the reason for that failure, IMO, is mismatched personnel. Guys who don't execute zone blocking well mixed with those who do. They just drafted Torrence in round 2 and he's not a zone guy. So the trend continues.

You got me there. Plan might be flawed. Technically though every down is an obvious passing down.........fortune favors passing teams........and first down is the most effective time to throw a pass and subsequent downs the need for large gains tends to increase...........that's why any plan of early down thumper LB's and third down LB's.......or 3rd down RB's for that matter.......isn't a viable plan. Every down is 3rd down in a passing league. Most teams also know that they can't effectively run 10-12 play scoring drives regularly with the lack of practice they get now. These are some of the reasons why the new base defense in the NFL is 4-2-5.

Early Left Guard prediction: Torrence on run plays McGovern on obvious passing downs /

You never want a 5'6" receiver taking a lot of hits in the NFL..........but it's not the hits that have sidelined him it's soft tissue and tendon injuries. Sharty's been sidelined by hamstring(many times) and turf toe(most of 2022) injuries. If he figures out how to not hurt himself just running around then hopefully he can make an impact.